Talk » CLEVELAND (AP) — The coach changed. Everything

else with the Cleveland Browns stayed the same.Unable to slow Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City’s thrill-a-minute offense Derrick Kindred Jersey , the Browns were soundly beaten — and beaten up — in a 37-21 loss on Sunday in Cleveland’s first game under interim coach Gregg Williams.Mahomes threw two touchdown passes to Cleveland native Travis Kelce and Kareem Hunt, another local kid who drove past FirstEnergy Stadium almost every day, scored three TDs as the Chiefs (8-1) overpowered the banged-up Browns (2-6-1) while sending them to their fourth straight loss.It doesn’t figure to get better anytime soon for Cleveland, which had three more defensive starters get injured.The pain isn’t going away.“We have to keep going — next man up,” defensive end Myles Garrett said. “We have to do the best with what we have.”The loss ended another tumultuous few days for the Browns, whose promising 2-2-1 start has dissolved into more disarray.Still, rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield managed to extract some positives. He passed for 297 yards and two touchdowns.“Offensively, I think there was a lot more good in this game than we had in the past,” said Mayfield, who twice connected with running back Duke Johnson on scores. “There is a lot to build on, but there is obviously so much more room for improvement. When you are playing a team like that, you have to stay in the game.“You have to give yourself chances. You have to do the little things right. You have to chip away, take time off of the clock just because of the offense that they have. There was a lot of good on offense, but we just have to keep getting better.”Cleveland’s hopes of staying with the Chiefs took a major hit when defensive backs Damarious Randall (groin), E.J. Gaines (concussion) and Denzel Ward (hip) were sidelined by injuries. Randall was scratched before the kickoff, and after Gaines and Ward went down in the first quarter, linebacker Christian Kirksey (hamstring) got hurt.Stopping the Chiefs with a full roster is tough.Short-handed, it’s impossible.The Browns were already missing Pro Bowl linebacker Joe Schobert Myles Garrett Color Rush Jersey , who sat out his third game in a row with a hamstring injury.“The biggest thing that really affected us was that we lost two of our starting corners in the first drive,” cornerback T.J. Carrie said. “That definitely put us in a different situation. We practice with those guys throughout the week, and when those guys go down, it changes the game plan. They are a high-powered offense, and I don’t think we did a good job at all stopping their momentum.”The injuries put more pressure on Williams, who did not relinquish his duties as defensive coordinator after being asked to replace Hue Jackson, who was fired on Monday along with offensive coordinator Todd Haley.The Browns may have been outmanned by the more talented Chiefs, but Williams liked how his players fought through a week full of adversity.“I never saw any flinch,” he said. “Never saw a flinch today. Never saw body language poor today. You have to build on that. This is the National Football League. There are no excuses. You have to continue to get better. You have to. We all have to.”Williams set an early tone for his shell-shocked team with a fourth-down gamble on Cleveland’s first possession. The Browns converted then, but Williams’ choice to go for a 2-point conversion in the second quarter resulted in the Browns chasing points all afternoon.Cleveland went 0 for 3 on conversion tries.Following the game, Mayfield and Mahomes met at mid-field and shared a hug and some words of encouragement. They’ve been friends for years, college rivals and part of the NFL’s next wave of young quarterbacks.While Mahomes appears to have it all — more talented teammates, a stable franchise — right now, Mayfield doesn’t think the Browns have to try to replicate Kansas City’s offense.“What we do is perfectly fine,” he said. “We just have to be better at it. They have guys who are making their plays. Their quarterback is putting it in the right spot. He is giving them a chance to win. We just have to be better. We are not going to abandon ship with what we are doing and try to do the Chiefs offense. We just have to trust our guys, trust our playmakers and do our job.” As Browns fans, you are probably familiar with (what turned out to be) the surplus of coaching talent on former head coach Bill Belichick’s 1995 staff. It included coaches such as Jim Schwartz, Kirk Ferentz https://www.brownsfanshop.com/Rashard-Higgins-Jersey , Eric Mangini, and Nick Saban (not to mention front office personnel Scott Pioli, Phil Savage, Ozzie Newsome, Michael Lombardi, and Thomas Dimitroff).Many former members of that Browns’ staff have gone on to varying levels of success but arguably none have enjoyed the kind of success that Saban is currently experiencing at the University of Alabama.Oddly enough, one of the adjustments that Saban, Belichick, and company made in Cleveland ended up being one of Saban’s most influential scheme innovations. This innovation has spread so far, in fact, that it appears to have influenced new Cleveland Browns Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks. This invention was a Pattern Match Cover 3 zone coverage, or more specifically the “Liz/Rip” adjustment to Cover 3. “Pattern match” zone coverage refers to a set of rules for playing a sort of matchup zone, and if Saban and Belichick didn’t invent this concept outright in Cleveland they at least brought it to prominence at exactly the right time. Fast forward 20 years and many of the defensive schemes that are able to contain today’s offenses rely on pattern matching.Speaking at a coaching clinic, Saban explained the reason that 95 Browns staff made the innovation. If a defense covers every receiver and keeps two safeties deep, they have a good chance to cover the pass but they lack the numbers in the box to stop the run. If the defense leaves only one safety deep, they have the numbers to stop the run but are more vulnerable against the pass. This is a classic defensive conundrum, and the 94 Browns were no exception.Above, Saban outlined two passing concepts that are commonly used against a single high safety look. “Seattle” aka “Four Verts” is designed to attack the seams in Cover 3:via the 2001 LSU Defensive PlaybookAnd “Pole” looks exactly like four verticals until the inside receivers break off their routes. Saban continued:via Brophy’s blog“Rip” and “Liz” are calls that Sabans’ defenses make to alert the defense as to which side the safety will drop into the box. And the Rip/Liz concept refers specifically to Saban’s style of Cover 3 match:via the 2008 Alabama Defensive PlaybookAs you might imagine Joe Thomas Jersey , “Rip” is short for right, while “Liz” is short for left. In this case, the call is to alert the underneath defenders of where a deep safety will drop down and insert himself into the coverage. Note that Rip/Liz is a call that Saban uses exclusively to adjust to 2x2 sets.In Rip/Liz, Saban’s corners are going to take the #1 receiver (the widest receiver to their side) man to man unless that receiver runs inside in the first 5 yards. If #1 is inside, the corner makes an “under” call and zones off.move your cursor over the image to slide between imagesThe next defender inside will take #2 (the second widest receiver) man to man unless he runs inside within the first 5 yards. This player has the critical job of keeping their receiver out of the seam. The help in Cover 3 is in the middle of the field, both short and deep. So this defender will attempt to squeeze any seam route from the outside-in, funneling the route to the middle of field safety.move your cursor over the image to slide between imagesAlso of note: this player must maintain outside leverage, which is key to defending the “Pole” concept. If this player plays with proper leverage and technique, he is responsible for defending what Saban considers to be two of the most threatening pass routes vs Cover 3. If #2 is under, this player will drop under a potential curl by #1, then look for work in the flat:The next defender inside will first listen for an “under” call from the opposite side of the formation. If he gets that call, he will cut any underneath crossing route . With no “under” call he will match #3 to his side (in this case, the RB). move your cursor over the image to slide between imagesIf #3 goes the other way and there is no under call, he will zone off:When executed well, pattern matching Cover 3 such as Rip/Liz can handle all of the common route combinations while still allowing the defense to get enough men in the box to stop the run.Up nextI’ll look at new Browns Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks’ brand of Cover 3, which is one of the most common coverages you are likely to see from the Browns next year.